For Whom the Bell Tolls
by Listening to trees
Summary: There is only a very short time to discover; and to dream of something more. But them being who they are, neither hesitates to seize it. A bittersweet, canon-ish WyperxLuffy oneshot, with spoilers for the Skypeia arc. [Undergoing RECONSTRUCTION; move along now.]


So I finished the Skypeia arc 3 weeks ago; and suddenly this WyperxLuffy was just begging to written. Which stoned me in some ways, because:

1. I'd **REFUSED to pair Luffy with ANYONE beforehand**. He seemed such a kid you know? At least Tsuna, Lambo and Ichigo would've known the birds and bees.

2. The first One Piece pairing I shipped was **ZoSan**. My One Piece OTP is **SmoAce**. So whatever happened to the nicely-sized chunk of ideas and stuff I'd been working on for the latter?

Figures. The fastest I'd get done would be the one I'd least pressure myself over.

Anyways, enjoy?

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**Pairing: WyperXLuffy**

**Rating: PG-15 for implied smex**

**Genre: Gen, romance, mild angst**

**Disclaimer: I admire Oda-sensei, the owner of One Piece.**

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It began, as a lot of things in his life did, with a simple sound.

Though perhaps, if he thinks about it, a long and a lot have compacted and build themselves into this moment. His name one day on the beckoning lips of the old chief; leading to that fateful divulgence. The brat's whiny, off-tune jangle; an auditory bull's-eye to his ears and too-strained nerves. Maybe even his own first cry as his mother's struggling body forcibly expelled him.

For Wyper did not believe in coincidences. How could he, when the thought of sharing his private ambition, so sentimental and so unlike him, had discomfited him? Even empathic Laki with their shared childhood and her womanly instincts was not privy.

And here was this nameless, unabashed, romanticist of a _brat_, appearing out of nowhere. No affiliations to this godforsaken country; no birthright to its thrice-damned war; no proper knowledge of their world and ways even – and yet he wanted to ring the bell.

/_Just like him._/

Wanting to ring it for a newly-made acquaintance; wanting to contest Wyper's right; strike all down in a foolhardy gamble on his puny ass.

Ridiculous. An absurdity.

Words that left him no less shaken for all the good they did.

He begins to question Calgara's designs for him.

Nevertheless, in an utter lack of sound this agreement between wills had formed; stealing his breath and replacing something inside him. Then the roar of a ten-ton gold bell falling from the sky lit the fuse on it.

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After which he wakes up from his injuries, and almost believes his fading thoughts to be nothing more than an illusion.

Wyper cannot even begin to conceive how the brat managed to wiggle permission out of Mika, the cantankerous healing witch. Boy had the worst case of bedside manners the Shandian had ever seen, and that was saying plenty.

Except, there was something different about the kid now; though that could be the extra things picked up by Wyper's changed perception. The simple, joyful wisdom of an enlightened acolyte beneath the childish currents. A brilliant set to eyes the colour of rich, vital Vearth, whenever his friends were mentioned. And the clean, dry tang of wood fire and peppered meats that lingers; outlasting his visits.

Everything else, including the incoherent babble of excitement outside his sick tent, are lost on him.

Kamakiri, having seen him shout down protesting healers before despite looking like coyote-kill, is beginning to treat his peaceful recuperation suspiciously.

Laki simply bestows the first irritatingly knowing glance among many.

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Never in his life has Wyper witnessed so much carousing and drinking.

A cynical part of him stated that there wasn't much cause amongst his people previously for such celebration. The rest tells his pessimism to screw off so he can make the most of it.

As a result, his head is not merely buzzing by the time he saunters off. There is no one sober enough to call him on it (even Mika, who was muttering somewhere in the pile ominously) but his old, unwounded self would've carried on drinking.

As of present circumstances, he finds it perfectly logical that the brat is sitting cross-legged in his personal tent; next to a sizeable leg of cloud boar with its herbs saturating the air. Probably because the boy was drunk too; there hadn't been a single instance of Straw Hat sharing his food that Wyper's heard of. Luffy's reflexes were sharp as ever when he swiped the native's hand away from his feast; only a tell-tale ruddiness and slur betray anything.

So both he and the boy were cushioned from the shock in this relaxing haze; alcohol, the quiet, and the knowledge of impending peace lulling them, when Wyper, watching the moonlit mouth struggle to produce syllables, leans in. Either to tell him to shut up or to physically silence him; he does not recall –the point was that it soon became the latter. Two sets of fingers scrabbling, slipping on clothing; waiting for lips pressed several inches off the mark to slide down and then–

They _fit_.

_Of course, s_aid inner-Wyper. The outer shell was too busy introducing his accomplice to an obvious first taste of tongue.

_Of course.  
_

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No one bothered; no one asked where they went. The prominence of their faces and positions were quickly consumed by the chaos of a nation-wide party. Barring his closest men; who all fed him Laki's looks now; whereas the woman's herself gained an especially annoying nuance. Only, for the first time in his life, Wyper had no real occasion to be angry, and Calgara take him before he ruined it.

So he would smirk and the boy would laugh; as they fought over food and goaded one another. He seldom talked; content to listen and respond occasionally to the natural chatterbox. He would recollect and plan; deriving pleasure from an easily delighted face, now that they had time for the sights and sounds of a beautiful, untamed land. And their lips would dance a lazy grouses' courtship; whilst skin was skimmed by fingers that could not leave well enough alone –even as thoughts were locked away in solemn privacy.

For where would Wyper be if not leading and restoring his community? And Luffy had told anyone who cared to hear that he was going to be the Pirate King. Which entailed a return to the Blue Seas. Confident as he was of the brat's abilities, Wyper had few else to compare to and therefore could not be sure if all Devil Fruit users were this strong. Stronger. The graceful, fiery fearlessness that'd attracted his eye could just as well destroy his opportunity at having this brand of scent and pressure in his arms again.

Neither does the shortness of twelve days escape him.

Which is why he leads the boy to a highly secluded nook two moons before the pirates set off; and slips a questioning hand under the shirt mid-kiss. Every grasp, every bite and press of palms ensues in a similar vein. Being up and about and drinking does not mean he is capable of night-long bouts of vigorous activity.

Or; he could ignore the rip of his stitches in favour of movement and say to hell with it. But the urgency he feels is not entirely the lust to claim him; it also nags at him like a burrowing dog to show the Straw Hat something; prove something. Wyper knows not what. The best he can do is follow.

(And Luffy, Luffy is as he always is; completely inexperienced and not a little wary but uninhibited and utterly _ready_.)

(It is this insight, that he, Wyper, has somehow seized a fragment of the boy's innocence for his own, yet returning it intact that draws, too soon, the white veil of an insane climax over him.)

Later, he almost sighs over the sleeping youth, who clings too enthusiastically.

He never picks them easy, does he?

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Wyper is in his village when the bell intones news of unfurled pirate sails to the whole country; oddly content to stay where he is.

Let his comrades peg it to a casual fling.

By all appearances, it could be. It had all the reasons to be shallow; and it certainly was too brief. Wyper could be married –though he thanks the gods for his stepbrother; for Kamakiri sparing him the necessity – and Luffy would move on before they crossed paths again.

But neither will mistake it for a plain, few kisses and the hunger of post-survival adrenaline; if just because the wondrous surprise in the boy's eyes at the first touch has seared itself in Wyper's haziest memory; a wide-eyed curiosity that had now receded somewhat from them in reality.

So for all that he does not send off a departing ship; lest something he cannot deny ignites at the sight of it, the bell would always sing afterwards with another yearning, not-quite promise in its weighty rings:

/_that the end at Raftel should find a Log Pose set towards Skypeia again_/

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(Owari)

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Notes: Mika is an American Indian female name meaning "racoon with a wise heart". She's an OC; in case you wondered.

I'm also currently working on a **WyperxLuffy fanart**; though it won't be finished anytime soon.

Comments please?


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